Very Different
by Peachy-Author
Summary: Kitty dreams about what her life would be like if she and Eric hadn't split up. Read to find out how different Petropolis would be in this case! Chapter story with slight DudleyXKitty! COMPLETE!
1. The Dream Begins

(A/N: This idea hit me not so long ago. We all know that my T.U.F.F. timeline begins with Kitty married to Eric, but they divorced because their marriage wasn't working out. Well, this is a 'what if' story. What if Kitty and Eric worked it out so their marriage was happier? This shows how different things would be in Petropolis if that happened. Okay, no need to riot, I'll get started!)

It was nighttime in the city of Petropolis. Everyone was getting ready to go to bed, except for the people who worked during the night. But I'm not worried about those people. We're supposed to head on over to Dudley and Kitty's house. Come on!

At Dudley and Kitty's house, the couple in question got ready to go to bed, and after kissing their children good night, they made their way to their bedroom and slipped under the covers.

"I love you, Kitty." Dudley said to Kitty as he hugged her.

"I love you too, Dudley." Kitty replied, returning the hug.

"You have no idea how much I love you." Dudley said.

"I think I do." Kitty replied, giving him a kiss.

"I love you more than my own life. Without you, my life wouldn't be worth living." Dudley said.

"Oh, Dudley..." Kitty said, hugging him even tighter, but not too tight. Dudley and Kitty were obviously very special to each other, but Kitty didn't know just how special she was to Dudley.

They spent a few minutes kissing and snuggling before they felt tired enough to sleep.

Before Kitty fell asleep, she felt happy to have a husband like Dudley. Her first marriage to Eric hadn't really worked out, and they never had the time to be intimate or do anything that married couples get to do. She wondered what her life would've been like if she and Eric had tried harder to make their marriage work, if she had stuck it out. She thought about that as she drifted into the land of dreams...

 **(In Kitty's dream...)**

Kitty found herself sitting on her throne in the throne room of the castle she and Eric lived in back when they ruled Kitaly. Back when Kitaly existed. Kitty was wearing her crown, a red velvet dress, and her royal robes. Eric was next to her, dressed like a king, and he smiled at her. Kitty smiled back at him. She was pretty glad that they had worked things out, and their marriage was still good.

Then 4 young kids (2 boys and 2 girls) that looked like combinations of Kitty and Eric raced into the room, playing 'tag'. They were the princes and princesses of Kitaly, but they didn't really act like they were better than the other kids in the kingdom because of it. They were just like any other kids, and Kitty was proud that they didn't let their status make them think too highly of themselves.

In fact, watching her little darlings reminded Kitty of when she and her sister, Katrina, were young girls. It was then that she remembered her sister, a bachelorette who worked as a secret agent at T.U.F.F., back in Petropolis. Then again, about 10 years had passed since Kitty and Eric left Petropolis and moved to Kitaly. Kitty realized that she hadn't really given her old life in Petropolis much thought since she left.

"What's the matter?" Eric asked, noticing that his wife seemed out of sorts.

"I wonder what things are like in Petropolis?" Kitty said.

"Whoa! You haven't wondered about Petropolis since we moved here about 10 years ago!" Eric said.

"I know! I need to find out what things are like. Better call Katrina." Kitty said.

"Are you sure she doesn't have a new phone number?" Eric asked.

"If there's one thing I know about Katrina, she said that her cell phone number will always be the same, even if she gets a new phone." Kitty replied as she looked for Katrina's cell phone number in her address book. Upon finding the number, she dialed it, hoping that Katrina would pick up.

Will Katrina pick up? Stay tuned to find out!


	2. The Changes

(A/N: Time to find out if Katrina's going to pick up. If she does, we'll find out how things have changed in Petropolis!)

Over in Petropolis, it was a day off for Katrina, which made her pretty happy. Then she heard her cell phone ring. By the 3rd ring, she picked up.

"Hello?" Katrina said into the phone.

"Katrina?" Kitty asked.

"Who is this?" Katrina asked.

"Katrina, it's me. Kitty." Kitty replied.

"Kitty? My sister, Kitty? The sister who worked with me at T.U.F.F. and then quit when she married someone who took her away to a country that was shaped like her head? The Kitty I haven't heard from in about 10 years?! _That_ Kitty?" Katrina asked.

"Yes, it's me..." Kitty said, figuring her sister would react like that once she knew who the caller was.

"I've been wondering about you! You never called or anything, and when I tried to contact you on your cell phone, it turned out you got a new number, and you wouldn't call to tell me what it was! That, and I highly doubt your e-mail address stayed the same! Otherwise, you would've replied to me! What's been going on?!" Katrina asked, happy but also upset that she was finally hearing from Kitty after 10 long years.

"Eric and I had it rough during our first few months of marriage; we hardly got to spend any time together. But I stuck it out, and we did our best to make things work, and we had 4 kids. Life in Kitaly is actually pretty nice. But there's not much to say about where I am. How are things in Petropolis?" Kitty asked.

"A lot has changed since you left, Kitty, and I mean a _lot_!" Katrina said.

"Like...?" Kitty said.

"Here's an example: I'm a happily married woman." Katrina said.

"You are?! Who did you marry?" Kitty asked.

"I'm married to Dudley's older brother, Bruce. I call him 'Brucie'." Katrina said.

"I didn't know Dudley had an older brother. How did you meet him?" Kitty asked. (A/N: Since this dream is an alternate timeline, Kitty never met Bruce before she married Eric.)

"I don't wanna talk about it..." Katrina said.

"Why? Your first meeting with him was unpleasant?" Kitty asked.

"Kinda. But as we got to know each other, we started to like each other, and... the rest is history." Katrina said.

"When was the wedding?" Kitty asked.

"A year and a half since you left." Katrina replied.

"I wish I'd kept in touch with you..." Kitty sighed.

"Me too. Anyway, before I forget, I'm also a mommy." Katrina said, and Kitty could almost hear her sister smiling.

"You're a mother?! How many kids do you have, and what are they like?!" Kitty asked.

"Brucie and I had a son. He looks so much like his father, only his eyes are green, like mine. And he's also very energetic, like Dudley, his namesake." Katrina said.

"You named him after Dudley?" Kitty asked.

"We sure did!" Katrina said.

"Anything else?" Kitty asked.

"Oh yeah! Brucie's working at T.U.F.F.!" Katrina said.

"Wow! That must be cool!" Kitty said.

"It sure is!" Katrina said. Then she said, "Oh, but Keswick isn't working at T.U.F.F. anymore. He went to the job he had back when we weren't getting any respect. However, he and Tammy (who still works at T.U.F.F.) got married, and they had a daughter named Venus. In fact, Venus and little Dudley are close friends." Katrina said.

"That's sweet. Is the Chief still in charge?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, he's still working." Katrina said.

Kitty was glad that things seemed to be okay in Petropolis, but then she remembered something very important, and she asked, "How's Dudley? You know, our partner, back when I worked at T.U.F.F."

"He's... been better..." Katrina answered nervously.

"What do you..." Kitty began, but then she realized that if someone had 'been better', something bad had happened to that person. "Something happened to him! What happened to him?!" Kitty said, now concerned.

"You don't wanna know..." Katrina said.

"Yes, I do! Something had to have happened to him, and I want to know what!" Kitty said.

"Kitty, trust me! You don't wanna know what happened to him!" Katrina told her.

"He was my partner! I have a right to know!" Kitty said.

"Oh, all right. It happened about 6 months after you left... and it still pains me to talk about him..." Katrina started, a small amount of sorrow in her voice.

"Katrina, what happened? You're talking as though Dudley..." Kitty realized that what happened to Dudley was worse than she thought, and she said, "No... please don't tell me..."

(A/N: Even though this is only Kitty's dream, please don't hate me for this, 'cause I'm already hating myself for this.)

"Dudley... died..." Katrina said, and her eyes filled with tears as she remembered what had happened to the dog she and her sister had worked with.

"He... DIED?! From what?! Did somebody kill him?! I'll bet that's it! When I find out who killed him..." Kitty said, shocked that one of her partners was gone.

"You already know the person that killed him, and you're not going to like it when I tell you who it was." Katrina said, still feeling sad.

"Tell me!" Kitty said.

"Okay, but you're going to hate yourself, because you killed him..." Katrina said.

"Wait a second! You're blaming _me_?! What did _I_ do to kill him?! I wouldn't kill him even if my life depended on it!" Kitty said.

How did Kitty kill Dudley? You'll have to stay tuned if you wanna find out!


	3. RIP Dudley

(A/N: Now that we've made it to the next chapter, we'll find out how Kitty is responsible for what happened to Dudley.)

"When you accepted Eric's second proposal, you broke Dudley's heart." Katrina said.

"He was heartbroken? That means he was in love with me! Why didn't he tell me?" Kitty asked.

"He didn't know how to tell you, and he was afraid that if he told you, you would've laughed or turned him down worse than you did Snaptrap when he made you out to be in love with him. That would've hurt him even more." Katrina said.

"Snaptrap's a villain! I had a reason for turning him down the way I did! Plus, I wouldn't have laughed at Dudley. I would've just turned him down lightly, but I'd have promised him that we'd always be friends, since friendship is the next best thing I could give him." Kitty said.

"You know, I didn't even expect Dudley to attend your wedding... but he did. He knew... that it would be the last time he'd ever see you... so he was there. He also stayed for the reception... but he didn't even go near you. He couldn't even... hug you good-bye before you and Eric left for your honeymoon." Katrina said, trying her hardest to keep calm.

"Why?" Kitty asked.

"He knew that if he went near you, the pain of knowing that you would soon be gone from him forever would have been so overwhelming, it would have killed him faster..." Katrina was trying not to cry.

"When did he tell you?" Kitty asked, near tears.

"It was his last day alive... about 6 months after you and Eric got married. He was sitting at his cubicle, not far from mine. We were just sitting there, working, and then I heard what sounded like a... a dull thud. I turned to look in the direction the sound came from, and... Dudley... had fallen out of his chair... and was... lying on the floor! He had one hand... on his chest... I noticed... his hand rested... where the heart is located. When I saw him lying there like that... I screamed. But then I knew that screaming wouldn't do any good... so I quickly called an ambulance... and Keswick, the Chief, and I went with Dudley." Katrina said, tears threatening.

"Keswick and the Chief went to the hospital with you?" Kitty asked.

"They heard me scream, and when they saw Dudley, they were just as shocked as I was. And they knew that I was going with Dudley, since he and I were still partners. They didn't want to wait for me to call and tell them what happened to Dudley." Katrina pointed out.

"Oh." Kitty said.

"Anyway, when we got to the hospital... the doctors quickly found out what the problem was... When we asked... they informed us that... Dudley's heart was broken... and he was dying. But... we didn't know what could've done it... It was then that... Dudley told us... In his final breaths... he told us everything... That he loved you... but he also wanted you... to be happy... He said that if being with Eric made you happy... he'd let you go... If the two of you had... stayed in Petropolis... or if you'd told him... you'd still be friends... maybe Dudley's heart... wouldn't have... been so badly broken... because at least... he'd still see you each day... or know that you were still his friend... He probably... could've handled that... But you went to Kitaly to be a queen... and Dudley knew that if you did that... he'd never see you again... That's when he told us... about your wedding. We knew he'd... attended... but we didn't know why he... hadn't gone near you... He'd asked me to contact you... every now and again... but you never replied..." Katrina said, finally breaking down.

Kitty was crying too, unable to believe that Dudley loved her enough to let her go, allowing her to be happy at the cost of his life. He loved her more than his own life!

"If only I had known..." Kitty said, feeling terrible.

"None of us knew, Kitty. But we found out too late..." Katrina sobbed.

"I wonder how Keswick and the Chief took Dudley's... you know..." Kitty said.

"Oh, they seemed to handle it pretty well, but it didn't take long before they showed that they couldn't deny the fact that they missed Dudley. We all missed him, and we still do. Life just isn't the same without him." Katrina told her, calming down a bit.

"Right..." Kitty said, still feeling terrible.

"Since you know what happened, it was at Dudley's funeral that I met Brucie." Katrina said.

"That's why your first meeting with him was unhappy?" Kitty guessed.

"Yes. We were both really missing Dudley, and we hugged and shared some of our memories of him. It helped us feel somewhat better, mainly because we really did care about Dudley. We comforted one another all day." Katrina said.

"And that's when Bruce joined T.U.F.F.?" Kitty asked.

"After we'd both recovered from the pain of losing Dudley, yes. The Chief assigned us as partners, and we did our job well. And as time wore on, we became friends. Then we became more than friends. A little over a year after that, we were married. Two years into our marriage, we had our little Dudley." Katrina said.

The sisters talked for a little while longer, and when they hung up, Kitty still felt ashamed. Why hadn't she promised Dudley that they'd always be friends, or keep in touch with him? If she had only known, maybe his heart wouldn't have been so broken, and he probably wouldn't have died.

And the story still isn't over yet! Stay tuned to find out what happens next!


	4. Only A Dream

(A/N: The home-stretch! We're finally here! Let's find out what's going to happen now!)

Kitty suddenly awoke to the sound of the alarm clock going off, and she found herself in her bedroom, at her home in Petropolis, not in the throne room in the castle in Kitaly. As she pondered over whether or not this was a dream, she heard the alarm shut off, and she looked to see Dudley getting up out of bed.

"That was just a dream? Oh, thank goodness! But how do I know I'm really awake? One way to find out." Kitty said to herself, and she slapped herself. The pain made her realize that she was awake.

"YES!" Kitty exclaimed, catching Dudley's attention, and he turned to her.

"What is it?!" Dudley asked, very startled.

"I'm awake!" Kitty said, and she jumped out of bed, ran to Dudley's side, and hugged him tightly.

"Okay..." Dudley said, very confused.

"For some reason, I dreamed that I was back in the castle in Kitaly, and I was still married to Eric." Kitty began to tell Dudley about the dream she had last night.

"Why did you dream about that?" Dudley asked, looking hurt.

"I don't know." Kitty said, and then she continued, "Anyway, in my dream, I decided to get in touch with Katrina, since the last time I had spoken to her was the day I married Eric. And she told me how different things were since I... left."

"How different?" Dudley asked, curious.

"Well, Keswick was married to Tammy, and while she was still working at T.U.F.F., Keswick wasn't. He was working at the job he had back when we weren't being treated with respect." Kitty said.

"What about the Chief?" Dudley asked.

"According to Katrina, he was still there. Speaking of my sister, Katrina was married to Bruce, but their first meeting didn't start out very nice. It happened on a rather sad day." Kitty said.

"What sad day?" Dudley asked.

"The worst part of my dream. I found out that you died of a broken heart 6 months after Eric and I were married. Katrina said that she and Bruce met at your funeral." Kitty said.

"I can't deny that I was heartbroken when you and Eric got engaged, but I do know that I wanted you to be happy more than anything else, so if being with Eric made you happy, I'd let you go with him, even though I'd still love you more than you would ever know." Dudley told her.

"I wish I'd known. That way, I could've told you that we would still be friends. Maybe it would've helped a little, and kept you alive." Kitty said.

"That, and having you stay in Petropolis. But I like this better." Dudley said.

"Me too. In a way, I'm glad my marriage with Eric didn't work out, because I came back to Petropolis before it was too late. And before all those changes happened." Kitty said.

"But you know that Katrina still married Bruce." Dudley said.

"Yes, but at least their actual first meeting was better than the one in my dream." Kitty said.

"And I guess you still wanted Keswick working at T.U.F.F.?" Dudley guessed.

"T.U.F.F. probably wouldn't be the same without him, and look at the inventions he and Claire have worked on together." Kitty pointed out.

"What happened when you found out about... me?" Dudley asked.

"I felt awful! I didn't know that you'd loved me, that I was the one who caused your death! Plus, it hurt that you didn't tell me anything." Kitty said.

"I know, and I'm sorry." Dudley said.

"Still, it's okay, since that was just a dream." Kitty said.

"Am I forgiven?" Dudley asked.

"Water under the bridge." Kitty told him.

"I love you." Dudley said, hugging Kitty.

"I love you, too." Kitty replied, meaning every word.

The End

Wow, Petropolis sure was different when Kitty was married to Eric, but I prefer things the way they turned out here, the way Dudley and Kitty like it. I hope this chapter made you DudleyXKitty fans happier (especially since Dudley is very much alive and well)!


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